Robert Brokamp

Yeah, and those tax brackets for the taxation of Social Security, it's based on something called provisional income.

They're pretty low because they haven't been adjusted for inflation in a very long time.

So when you look at those, you might think, well, I'll probably still pay taxes on my Social Security, but the premiums for Medicare are higher.

This year, for a single $106,000, buried $212,000.

So some folks may look at those and be like, I don't have to worry about paying higher premiums for Medicare.

I think what happens is,

There might be a single year where in retirement you have a big expense.

You bought that RV or you took the family on a trip.

You took a lot of money out of the traditional account and poof, you now are going to have to pay higher premiums for your Medicare.

But if you have money in a Roth, you have the optionality to say, you know what, I have this big ticket expense.

I'm going to take it out of the Roth and therefore not affect my Medicare premiums and maybe Social Security taxation if you're in a lower tax bracket.

All right, let's move on to reason number four.

This has maybe a double-edged benefit to it, but easier access to the money before age 59.5.

This is more for Roth IRAs than 401 s. I'll qualify this by saying, the tax-free withdrawals from a Roth, there are some rules.

The account has to have been open for five years and you have to be age 59.5.

Except with the Roth, you might be able to access some of that money earlier.

That's right.

Yeah, and just for clarification, you did point out that that is about Roth IRAs.

Roth 401ks are a little more complicated.

The withdrawals that come out are a rateable proportion of contributions and earnings.